52 Weeks: Oldest Story, The Cherokee Creation Story

 

this week’s theme is “OLDEST STORY.”   

The cherokee indian story of the beginning of the appalachians.  

Sometimes our oldest story is about where we are from and not about a particular person.  folklore is an important part of our stories.

The Cherokee Creation Story...

The Cherokee creation story tells how the world began as a big ocean, and all the animals lived in a place above the sky called Galun'lati. It was getting crowded there, so the animals wanted more space.

One brave Water Beetle offered to dive down into the water to see what was below. It swam all around but couldn't find any land. Finally, it dove to the bottom and brought up some soft mud. This mud started to grow and spread out in every direction until it became the land we call Earth.

Click on Read More for the rest of the story and a link to the video....

The animals in the sky were happy, but the new land was wobbly and wet. So, they sent out different birds to see if it was dry enough to land on. But the birds couldn't find any dry spots and had to fly back to Galun'lati.

Finally, they sent the Buzzard. He flew all over the Earth, close to the ground. He got very tired, and his big wings started to flap and hit the soft mud. Where his wings went down, they made valleys, and where they went up, they made mountains. That's why the Cherokee land is full of mountains and valleys.

When the Earth was finally dry, all the animals came down to live on it. But it was still dark. So, they decided to make the sun and put it in the sky to give them light. At first, the sun was too close and burned some of the animals, like the crawfish, which is why it's red. They moved the sun higher and higher until it was just right, where it is today.

And that's how the Cherokee people believe the world was made.

This story was documented by James Mooney.  

Are you related or connect to him?  

Find out on WikiTree.

Watch our short Video on The Cherokee Creation Story - the Oldest Appalachian Story. 

Do you have an Oldest Story? 
Share it in the comments!

#52Ancestors was started by another WikiTreer, blogger, and professional genealogist, Amy Johnson Crow. Check out her Generations Cafe Facebook group.

Join the Appalachia Project on WikiTree to create your family tree.